Major General Carlos Fernando Chardón also referred to as "Fernando Chardón"Various notable members of his family were named "Carlos Chardón". He preferred to be referred to as "Fernando Chardón" to avoid confusion with the others. (September 5, 1907 – December 9, 1981), was the

Secretary of State of Puerto Rico The secretary of state of Puerto Rico ( es, Secretario de Estado de Puerto Rico) leads all efforts that promote the cultural, political, and economical relations between Puerto Rico and foreign countries, and other jurisdictions of the United S ...

from 1969 to 1973 and the

Puerto Rico Adjutant General The Puerto Rico Adjutant General ( es, Ayudante General de Puerto Rico) is the Commander of the Puerto Rico National Guard. As the Adjutant General he is also the Senior Military Advisor to the Governor of Puerto Rico and oversees both State and ...

from 1973 to 1975.

Early years

Chardón (birth name: Carlos Fernando Chardón Palacios) was born in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

, to Carlos Felix Chardón and Isabel Palacios Pelletier. His great-grandfather, Juan Bautista Chardón, a Catholic native of

Champagne, France Champagne () was a province in the northeast of the Kingdom of France, now best known as the Champagne wine region for the sparkling white wine that bears its name in modern-day France. The County of Champagne, descended from the early medieva ...

, immigrated to

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

from

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

in 1816, encouraged by the Royal Decree of Graces issued by the Spanish Crown.Archivo General de Puerto Rico: Documentos
, Retrieved August 3, 2007 Chardón received his primary and secondary education in his hometown. After graduating from high school, he enrolled and attended the

University of Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach a ...

In 1928, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering."Historia militar de Puerto Rico" Coleccion Encuentros (in Spanish); author=

Hector Andres Negroni In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

; Publisher: Sociedad Estatal Quinto Centenario; .

Military and political career

After he graduated from Cornell, Chardón returned to Puerto Rico and joined the

Puerto Rico National Guard The Puerto Rico National Guard (PRNG) – es, Guardia Nacional de Puerto Rico– is the national guard of the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and s ...

. He was assigned to the 295th Infantry and commissioned a first lieutenant. He served in the regular

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and in 1945, was honorably discharged from the Army with the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

.Fernando Chardón
/ref> In 1946, he returned to Puerto Rico and continued to serve in the National Guard. Chardón was promoted to the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

and was named Commander of the 295th Infantry. Although the unit as such did not participate in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, most of its members saw action in the conflict, either as replacements for Puerto Rico's 65th Regiment casualties, or to cover vacancies in that unit resulting from the rotation system. On July 20, 1965, he served temporarily as Adjutant General of Puerto Rico upon the death of Major General

Juan César Cordero Dávila Major General Juan César Cordero Dávila (June 7, 1904 – July 20, 1965), was the commanding officer of the 65th Infantry Regiment during the Korean War, rising to become one of the highest ranking ethnic officers in the United States Army. ...

. in 1968, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the Puerto Rican National Guard. Chardón served as Secretary of State of Puerto Rico from 1969 to 1973, representing the

New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico The New Progressive Party ( es, Partido Nuevo Progresista, PNP) is a political party in Puerto Rico that advocates statehood. The PNP is one of the two major parties in Puerto Rico with significant political strength and currently holds both ...

under the governorship of

Luis Alberto Ferré Aguayo Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

he led all efforts to promote the cultural, political, and economic relations between Puerto Rico and foreign countries, and other jurisdictions of the United States. Part of his responsibilities included that he be the acting governor in the event that the Governor of Puerto Rico is unable to perform his duties. He is tied with the 22nd Secretary of State,

Kenneth McClintock Kenneth Davison McClintock-Hernández (born January 19, 1957) is a politician who served as the twenty-second Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, one of the four longest serving in that post. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s Na ...

, as the third longest-serving Secretary of State. In 1973, Chardón was promoted to the rank of major general in the National Guard and resigned his position of Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. Chardón served as the

from 1973 to 1975 under the governorship of

Rafael Hernández Colón Rafael Hernández Colón (October 24, 1936 – May 2, 2019) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1973 to 1977 and 1985 to 1993 for a total of three terms. An experienced politician, Hernández held the ...

who represented the political beliefs of the Popular Democratic Party As Adjutant General, he was the Senior Military Advisor to the

Governor of Puerto Rico The governor of Puerto Rico ( es, gobernador de Puerto Rico) is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and commander-in-chief of the Puerto Rico National Guard. The governor has a duty ...

and oversaw both State and Federal Missions of the

. During the command of BG Carlos Chardón proposed the naming of the National Guard training facility in

Salinas, Puerto Rico Salinas (, ) is a town and municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico located in the southern coast of the island, south of Aibonito and Cayey; southeast of Coamo, east of Santa Isabel; and west of Guayama. Salinas is spread over 5 barr ...

Camp Santiago Camp Santiago Joint Training Center is a military training installation controlled by the Puerto Rico National Guard on 16,000 acres of land located in Salinas, Puerto Rico. This training facility was named posthumously after Medal of Honor recip ...

. Chardón retired as the Puerto Rico Adjutant General in 1975.

Family

He was married to Carmín Cuyar Gatell and was the father of four offspring. His brother was Carlos E. Chardón, the first Puerto Rican

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...

, a high-ranking official in government on agriculture during the 1920s, the first Puerto Rican appointed as Chancellor of the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

(1931-1935), and the head of the Puerto Rican Reconstruction Administration in the mid-to late 1930s during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. His nephew is Carlos A. Chardón Lopez who served as Puerto Rico's Secretary of Education in 1977 and 2009.

Death

On December 9, 1981, Chardon died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the Ashford Memorial Hospital in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

He was buried with

full military honors A military funeral is a memorial or burial rite given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards ...

in Plot: Section HSA, Plot 6, at the

Puerto Rico National Cemetery Puerto Rico National Cemetery is a United States national cemetery located in the city of Bayamón, in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It encompasses of land, and at the end of 2005, had 44,722 interments. Until 2021, it was the only United St ...

Bayamón, Puerto Rico Bayamón (, ) is a Bayamón barrio-pueblo, city, Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of Puerto Rico and suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan located in the northern coastal valley, north of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, Aguas Buenas an ...

. His wife Carmín (1911 - 2000) was also buried in the same plot upon her death. The Puerto Rican Government named a street after him in San Juan; "Calle Carlos F Chardon".

Written works

*"Reseña histórica del origen y desarrollo de las milicias puertorriqueñas bajo el régimen español, 1511-1898"; Published 1978 by .n.in San Juan, P.R.; LC Control Number 81128128 Open Library
/ref>

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chardon, Carlos Fernando 1907 births 1981 deaths Historians of Puerto Rico Military personnel from Ponce Politicians from Ponce Puerto Rican people of French descent Secretaries of State of Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Adjutant Generals Puerto Rican military officers National Guard (United States) generals Puerto Rican Army personnel Puerto Rican Roman Catholics United States Army generals 20th-century American politicians Puerto Rico National Guard personnel